7 - 13 February 2002
Issue No.572
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 February 2002 Issue No.572 |
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Abu Simbel comes to life
If you want to see Abu Simbel temple ablaze with colour as in the days of Egypt's longest-reigning Pharaoh Ramses II, follow Nevine El-Aref back to the 19th dynasty
Sound and Light performances have long been presented at such sites as the Pyramids and Karnak and Philae temples, but the new programme at Abu Simbel is a more modern and high-tech presentation than any we have seen so far.
Visitors to Egypt's Pharaonic sites are not unfamiliar with representations of Ramses' famous battle of Kadesh in the fifth year of his reign. He was always anxious for his personal bravery to be recorded, and his sculptors lost no time in pandering to his vanity; battle scenes appear on the pylons of Luxor temple and his mortuary temple on the Theban necropolis, to mention but two. His treaty with the Hittites was carved again and again. So I attended a special performance of the new Sound and Light show at Abu Simbel with a certain scepticism. Could it offer anything new? I came away entranced.
At the performance, attended by high-ranking officials and the press, we were taken right into the heart of the famous battle of Kadesh between Ramses II and the Hittites. Thanks to computer simulation we could see the very wheels of his chariot as he charged into battle and hurled arrows at the surrounding enemy. The sound was such that I could imagine the dead and wounded lying under the hooves of his horses. The fortress of Kadesh itself was surrounded by battlements, and there ferocious fighting raged.
I heard conversations between Ramses II and his spiritual father, the Sun-god Re, with the latter encouraging him to continue the battle and be victorious. Re was twice projected; once as Re-Harakhte with the head of a hawk surrounded by the sun disk, and again accompanied by small figures of the goddesses Isis and Hathor. Celebrating the signing of the Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty were representatives of both countries, while crowds of people sang and danced and threw flowers.
I particularly enjoyed watching episodes from the life and times of Ramses II. The audience were so much a part of the show that we felt we were celebrating Ramses II's birthday, his coronation and his marriage to the beautiful Nefertari. We witnessed the construction of his temple and its official opening, as well as the phenomenon of the equinox when, twice a year, the sun's rays struck the innermost wall of the sanctuary where Ramses II was seated in company with the holy triad Amun/Ptah/Re.
Both temples, that of Ramses II, and the neighbouring temple dedicated to his wife, were displayed in full colour. How marvellous they must have looked all those thousands of years ago. The four rock-cut colossi of the Pharaoh took on hues of blue, red and yellow, with the eyes outlined in black. One projection showed Nefertari as queen, another showed her in the form of the goddess Hathor. Most of the reliefs and engravings on the inner walls of the temples were projected on the façade of both temples so they could be seen by the maximum number of spectators.
The voices of the wind, the sand, the rocks and the Nile related historical events such as how and when the temples of Abu Simbel were discovered, what they looked like when still partly obscured by drifts of sand, and the salvage operations of the 1960s: They told how the rock-hewn temple was sawn to pieces, stored, and later reconstructed within the folds of an artificial mountain 65 metres above the original location. During this part of the spectacle, the sound of the trundling trucks could be heard above the shouts of the workmen and the clamour of sawing and hammering.
Even the great earthquake which toppled the head from one of Ramses' monoliths had a voice. It described the 19th dynasty as the most splendid period of Egyptian history, and Abu Simbel as the greatest and most beautiful of all Egyptian monuments.
One of the most interesting parts of the show was the projection of the Pharaoh, preceded by a number of Africans arranged in two files, one above the other. Their faces were dark red and black, their hair dressed in the small twists fashionable in Nubia. It was interesting to learn that Ramses II built other temples in Nubia, including those of Al-Sebou'a, Dakka and Al-Maharaqa.
The project is a collaborative effort between the Egyptian Sound and Light Company, the Supreme Council of Antiquities and a Dutch company specialising in lighting. The music was commissioned from a Spanish composer to whom one must raise one's hat. Even if you have already been to Abu Simbel, now is the time to go again.
Members of the audience, seated in a limestone amphitheatre in front of the temples, are provided with headphones which relate the story in eight languages simultaneously: Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. Tickets cost LE55 for foreigners and LE16.50 for Egyptians.
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